Social Media News For The Week Of 5/3/13

Americans Addicted to Social Media

A survey released by the consumer and business credit reporting company, Experian, states that Americans are spending more of the online time on social media than anywhere else on the internet. According to the study, Americans are on social sites for 16 minutes of every hour spent on line. After social media is entertainment websites at 9 minutes per online hour and online shopping at 5 minutes. Americans also lead the world in social media usage, with users in the U.K. at 13 minutes and Australia at 14 minutes on average. Full Story Here:


How to recognize the risks social media pose to your company

As business use of social media has risen, some level of risk with this usage has become clearly apparent to most companies. The management of company reputation, potential release of confidential information, and the danger of employees speaking on behalf of the business are just a few of the risks encountered by companies on social media. The key to minimizing these, and any other risks, is for businesses to have a clearly developed social media strategy along with solid employee use policies. Full Story Here:


Social Media and Web 2.0: Tech that makes a Difference

The combination of social media networks and the technological advances of Web 2.0 are making a fundamentally positive influence on business at large. A report by the analytical firm, Gartner, found developments in these two areas have had a profound impact across all industries. This has brought about positive change to businesses of all sizes. Full Story Here:


Celent Survey Shows Social Media Increases Traction in Insurance Industry

Use of social media by the insurance industry has gained a strong footing in North America, according to a study by Celent and Locke Lord, LLP. The report found that 80 percent of insurers are currently using social media in their conduction of business. Of the 20 percent who are not, 45 percent plan on implementing social during the course of the next year. Full Story Here:

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Driving Restaurant Revenue With Social Media - Part 8 - Google

Google launched it’s own social network offering in June 2011. After struggling through its first 18 months, the search engine’s social media network, Google , appears to be gaining traction. As 2013 began, the network had 135 million active users. Google has unveiled a series of feature additions and upgrades, while parent Google has been unsubtly encouraging this to be the year it really takes off. 

 

Google Local

One of the feature additions of interest to restaurants was the launch of Google Local. This is a location-based tool for scores and recommendations from other Google users. This feature alone is reason enough for food and beverage establishments to set up an account, to stay abreast of and respond to what is being said about their brand. This new feature and others such as, Google Communities, are designed to make the network more useful to individuals and businesses.

 

Google Communities

Similar to Facebook and LinkedIn Groups, Google Communities is a gathering place for people with similar interests to share information about their specific passions. found via the bar on the left hand side and hosted through Google , topic Communities can be searched for and found. New Communities can be created as well. This feature provides an excellent way to keep up with food & beverage industry information and engagement with industry leaders and peers.

 

Google Circles

When Google was first launched it was only for individuals, but it soon allowed brands to set up their own business pages. The rules for pages are different from profiles most significantly in that business pages cannot “Circle” and then communicate with profiles until those individuals have chosen to circle the page. Circles on Google works in the same way as “liking” on Facebook or “following” on Twitter. This means it is vitally important for success on Google to include 1 buttons on your restaurant’s website and ask to be included in their circles. An advantage of Google for brands is the lack of an algorithm along the lines of Facebook’s Edgerank. This means anybody who has included your establishment in their circles will see everything you post.

The growth of Google is now making a presence there essential for the food and beverage industry. In addition, the search engine optimization (SEO) gains from being on Google’s social network can only prove beneficial as well.

 

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com

Driving Restaurant Revenue With Social Media - Part 8 - Google

Google launched it’s own social network offering in June 2011. After struggling through its first 18 months, the search engine’s social media network, Google , appears to be gaining traction. As 2013 began, the network had 135 million active users. Google has unveiled a series of feature additions and upgrades, while parent Google has been unsubtly encouraging this to be the year it really takes off. 

 

Google Local

One of the feature additions of interest to restaurants was the launch of Google Local. This is a location-based tool for scores and recommendations from other Google users. This feature alone is reason enough for food and beverage establishments to set up an account, to stay abreast of and respond to what is being said about their brand. This new feature and others such as, Google Communities, are designed to make the network more useful to individuals and businesses.

 

Google Communities

Similar to Facebook and LinkedIn Groups, Google Communities is a gathering place for people with similar interests to share information about their specific passions. found via the bar on the left hand side and hosted through Google , topic Communities can be searched for and found. New Communities can be created as well. This feature provides an excellent way to keep up with food & beverage industry information and engagement with industry leaders and peers.

 

Google Circles

When Google was first launched it was only for individuals, but it soon allowed brands to set up their own business pages. The rules for pages are different from profiles most significantly in that business pages cannot “Circle” and then communicate with profiles until those individuals have chosen to circle the page. Circles on Google works in the same way as “liking” on Facebook or “following” on Twitter. This means it is vitally important for success on Google to include 1 buttons on your restaurant’s website and ask to be included in their circles. An advantage of Google for brands is the lack of an algorithm along the lines of Facebook’s Edgerank. This means anybody who has included your establishment in their circles will see everything you post.

The growth of Google is now making a presence there essential for the food and beverage industry. In addition, the search engine optimization (SEO) gains from being on Google’s social network can only prove beneficial as well.

 

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com

Driving Restaurant Revenue With Social Media - Part 7 - YouTube

The video sharing social media network, YouTube, is the third most visited website on the planet, after Google and then Facebook. After being bought by Google, YouTube has one of the most powerful search engines, second only to its parent company. YouTube is another platform well suited to the food and beverage industry with its visual orientation. Only a restauranteur’s sense of imagination and level of creativity limit what can be accomplished with video marketing via YouTube.

Videos on YouTube can become extremely viral due to the nature of the medium. An important factor in what can make a video go viral is the fact that YouTube videos can be embedded across a wide spectrum of social media networks and websites. With billions of views every day, YouTube offers a potentially immense audience.

 

Here are a few tips to give your videos the best chance to be seen by a large audience:

 

1. Compelling Content

Just like all the other social networks, content is crucial. Videos of your current dinner specials are not going to gain much of your audience’s attention. But a video of your head chef revealing a culinary secret used in creating that special will grab their attention, and maybe inspire them to share it with their friends. Another factor of vital importance is the title of the video - this is how it will be found. Keywords in the title can take people where you want them to go. These words can be tagged to videos as well. Also, make sure all of your other social network accounts are fully linked with your YouTube channel.

 

2. Keep It Brief

You only have a very short window to gain and hold people’s attention span. The vast majority of YouTube videos are less than 5 minutes in length. If your subject requires more time to be fully covered, break it up into several smaller parts. This is a common technique on YouTube.

 

3. Show Your Character

When your brand signs up for YouTube, the network automatically generates a channel for your videos. There is plenty of room for creativity here as well, with many options for customization. Make your channel reflect the unique character of your establishment and highlight what sets it apart. Once you are up and running, don’t forget that YouTube is a social network and your audience expects interaction and engagement. Monitor and respond to comments left by users, just as you would on any other social platform.

YouTube has provided a tremendous platform, one where virtually anybody can be seen as if on television. In the next part in this series we will look at the advantages offered by Google to the restauranteur. 

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

 

Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com

Driving Restaurant Revenue With Social Media - Part 6 - Instagram

The photo sharing social network, Instagram, is another visual platform available to restaurant marketing efforts. As the old saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, and that has never been more true than in today’s society. Rather than talking about their establishments, Instagram gives restauranteurs the quick and easy functionality to share images on-the-fly via their mobile devices - a clear benefit to the fast-paced food and beverage industry.

Instagram was launched in 2010 and was bought in early 2012 by the social media giant, Facebook. According to current figures from the app, Instagram has 100 million active users every month and 40 million photos are shared on a daily basis. This is a tremendous potential audience. This, combined with the public’s love of photographing their food and sharing the images via social media, make Instagram an important platform on which restauranteurs to have a presence. The app is free and extremely user friendly. Photos can be shared directly from a mobile device without the need of a computer. From the app, photos and associated captions can be posted to other social networks including Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, or Flickr.

 

Here are a few ideas to help make the most of Instagram:

 

1. More Than Food Photos

Instagram should be much more than pictures of food. You can promote upcoming events, let the fans take a tour behind the scenes with your chef, or present to them a new staff member, for example. Use your imagination and creativity. Also, just as on other social networks, never forget the importance of engagement and interaction with your audience.

 

2. Use Hashtags

Just like Twitter, Instagram uses hashtags, (#steak) for example. An image with that hashtag would show up in the search results for steak. Anything in the photo, including your restaurant’s name and location, can be hashtagged.

 

3. Take Advantage of Photo Maps

This new feature of Instagram allows your restaurant to be tagged along with photos on a geo-location map. This will help your fans find your restaurant and view images of your outstanding cuisine.

Because of the unique, visual nature of both the food and beverage industry and Instagram, the photo sharing social network can be a powerful tool for restaurant marketing. In the next part in this series we will examine the benefits of YouTube for restaurant owners

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com

Driving Restaurant Revenue With Social Media - Part 6 - Instagram

The photo sharing social network, Instagram, is another visual platform available to restaurant marketing efforts. As the old saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, and that has never been more true than in today’s society. Rather than talking about their establishments, Instagram gives restauranteurs the quick and easy functionality to share images on-the-fly via their mobile devices - a clear benefit to the fast-paced food and beverage industry.

Instagram was launched in 2010 and was bought in early 2012 by the social media giant, Facebook. According to current figures from the app, Instagram has 100 million active users every month and 40 million photos are shared on a daily basis. This is a tremendous potential audience. This, combined with the public’s love of photographing their food and sharing the images via social media, make Instagram an important platform on which restauranteurs to have a presence. The app is free and extremely user friendly. Photos can be shared directly from a mobile device without the need of a computer. From the app, photos and associated captions can be posted to other social networks including Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, or Flickr.

 

Here are a few ideas to help make the most of Instagram:

 

1. More Than Food Photos

Instagram should be much more than pictures of food. You can promote upcoming events, let the fans take a tour behind the scenes with your chef, or present to them a new staff member, for example. Use your imagination and creativity. Also, just as on other social networks, never forget the importance of engagement and interaction with your audience.

 

2. Use Hashtags

Just like Twitter, Instagram uses hashtags, (#steak) for example. An image with that hashtag would show up in the search results for steak. Anything in the photo, including your restaurant’s name and location, can be hashtagged.

 

3. Take Advantage of Photo Maps

This new feature of Instagram allows your restaurant to be tagged along with photos on a geo-location map. This will help your fans find your restaurant and view images of your outstanding cuisine.

Because of the unique, visual nature of both the food and beverage industry and Instagram, the photo sharing social network can be a powerful tool for restaurant marketing. In the next part in this series we will examine the benefits of YouTube for restaurant owners

Written and produced in beautiful Naples, Florida by OnFast.com. Visit OnFast.com today to get your free trial subscription to our Social Media Marketing Service.

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Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com

Getting Traffic To Your Blog

It’s all about Content. Here are some quick tips you can use when writing for your Blog:

• Choose topics and issues that are related to your business.
• Post on a regular basis.
• Produce content that appeals to your readers.
• Include pictures and videos where possible
• Write in an easily understandable style
• Be creative and informal.
• Recognize sources of your material
• Include links to your website and source material
• Include a call to action

Practice these suggestions and you will attract more followers.

It’s all about Content. Here are some quick tips you can use when writing for your Blog:

Choose topics and issues that are related to your business.

Post on a regular basis.

Produce content that appeals to your readers.

Include pictures and videos where possible

Write in an easily understandable style

Be creative and informal.

Recognize sources of your material

Include links to your website and source material

Include a call to action

Practice these suggestions and you will attract more followers.

Posted via OnFast - http://www.OnFast.com